


The Plant

by peachytickles



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Squealing Santa 2020, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28956165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachytickles/pseuds/peachytickles
Summary: Written for Squealing Santa 2020.I was assigned the prompt “Eleanor is getting to know Chidi and Tahani. One thing leads to another, and Eleanor accidentally lets slip that she’s extremely ticklish. Ensue Tahani and Chidi tickling the crap out of her.”
Relationships: Chidi Anagonye/Eleanor Shellstrop, Tahani Al-Jamil/Eleanor Shellstrop
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The Plant

“Tahani, hi! What brings you here?” Chidi asked. He was smiling a little too brightly for Eleanor’s liking, and she shot him a nasty look. His eyes flickered over to her for a second in bemusement, then narrowed when she stuck her tongue out at Tahani’s back.

“Oh, I was just _in the neighbourhood!_ ” Tahani sing-songed. Then she twirled round, and Eleanor had to quickly school her features into something resembling a smile. “Do you get it, Eleanor? Because we’re all in the same afterlife, so you know, I’m always in the neighbourhood! Do you get it?”

“Mmhm. I do.” Eleanor muttered, cautiously reaching behind her for the doorknob. The last thing she wanted was to get reeled into one of Tahani’s monologues-

“Anyway, this is for you. Just a little housewarming present!” Tahani stepped forwards and thrust a large, leafy plant towards her.

Eleanor took it from her reluctantly, and felt her knees almost buckle under the additional weight. It was _way_ heavier than it looked. She let out a little growl, trying not to let it slip out of her arms, then heard the door close behind her with a very audible click.

She growled a second time and Chidi came to her rescue, taking the plant and putting it safely on the coffee table, before stepping back to admire it. “Wow, Tahani, how thoughtful of you! It’s beautiful.” As he spoke, one of the buds bloomed into a white flower right before their eyes.

Tahani laughed and clapped her hands together in delight. “Isn’t it? It’s called the Plant of Friendship. When Michael told me about it I just _knew_ I had to get you two one!”

Eleanor frowned. _It’s just a bunch of leaves_ , she thought. _Nothing special._

Almost immediately, the flower wilted. Eleanor felt herself start to smirk. She looked over at Chidi and Tahani for their reactions, but they were both staring at her with aghast expressions.

“Ugh, I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

\--

Tahani forgave Eleanor’s slip-up immediately, because of course she did.

Chidi, on the other hand, took more convincing. He continued to glare at her even after she’d apologised. In fact, he seemed to look even angrier after the words _I’m sorry_ left her mouth. Probably because the flower remained wilted.

Eleanor wanted to laugh at his expression, but she had a sneaking suspicion that if she did, the leaves would start wilting- and that would just drive her into hysterics -which in turn would probably cause something even more awful to happen.

Like the plant catching on fire-

_Oh no._

She turned her back, fighting the traitorous smile that was growing on her face.

“Hey, Tahani, how would you like to spend the day with us?”

Eleanor’s blood ran cold and she spun back round, now irate rather than amused.

“Chidi, what a kind offer! Why, I’d simply love to!” Tahani trilled.

“Well, that’s decided then.” Chidi said. _The backstabber._ “I’ll prepare the tea.”

Eleanor narrowed her eyes at him, but he didn’t rescind the invitation. “Fine. I’ll get the cookies,” she hissed.

Once the tea was made, they sat down together on the couch, in a dorky little row. Somehow, Eleanor found herself caught in the middle. Which was really forking annoying, because she kept having to turn her head every time Chidi or Tahani spoke, and soon enough she began to get a crick in her neck. Before long, she gave up with following the conversation, and contented herself with staring blankly at the plant.

“-nor! Eleanor!”

“Huh?” Eleanor snapped out of her trance and stared woozily at Tahani.

Tahani was holding their lime-green teapot. “I said, would you like more tea, Eleanor?”

“Oh.” Eleanor looked down at the teacup she’d set down on the coffee table some forty minutes ago, and not touched since. “…no, I think I’ll finish what I’ve got. Thanks, Tahani.”

Tahani beamed. “That’ll have gone cold by now, silly! Here, I’ll pour you a fresh cup.”

On her other side, Chidi chuckled. “She hates tea, Tahani. Believe me, I’ve tried to convert her, but no use.”

Eleanor looked at him with surprise. _He’d noticed?_

He was grinning at her, all warmth and mischief, and she felt herself smile back.

Tahani put the teapot down beside the plant and leaned in conspiratorially. “You know, Eleanor, I’ve just realised I don’t know you very well at all!”

“Huh?”

“This whole time Chidi and I have been discussing everything from literature to topiary. We’ve barely let you get a word in edgeways! Well, no more. The floor’s yours. Tell us everything you can think of about yourself!”

Eleanor stuttered wordlessly and looked over to Chidi for guidance. He shrugged benevolently, giving another of those warm smiles. “I agree.”

_Traitor._

“Okay, uhm…. Well, I’m from Arizona. And… I studied Law. In Tempe.”

“Mhm.” Tahani nodded attentively. “I remember you telling me at the Welcoming Banquet! If my memory serves me correctly, you worked in the Ukraine?”

“Uh, yeah. But only for a little while. I barely remember it, actually. So don’t ask me anything else about it, haha!” Eleanor laughed awkwardly and scratched at her neck. “And…that’s about it, really.”

“Oh, come on.” Tahani chuckled indulgently. “There must be more to you than that! Here, quickfire round - do you have a favourite colour? What did you want to do when you were a child? Do you have any funny weaknesses? Mine is probably corgi puppies. They’re just too cute. Ooh - your favourite book!”

“Wow, okay.” Eleanor giggled a little at how rapidly Tahani had just spoken. “My favourite colour is probably blue. When I was really little I wanted to be a firefighter I think? I’m really allergic to bee stings, so that’s- ….a pretty serious weakness, actually. Um- would being ticklish count as a funny weakness? And my favouri-“

“Ticklish?”

“Uh, what?”

Tahani tilted her head. “You just admitted to being ticklish, correct?”

“No…?” Eleanor tried.

“No, you definitely did.” Chidi confirmed.

“Well, this has been fun, but I think I’m gonna go and get some frozen yogurt,” Eleanor said, getting to her feet, but Tahani caught her by the waist and pulled her straight back down. She started to protest, but barely managed to get a word out before Tahani was wiggling her fingers on her side.

Eleanor let out a little cry of betrayal, arching away from her hand. “Tahani!”

“Eleanor.” Tahani mocked, a teasing grin appearing on her face. She reached around the blonde to try tickling her other side, and let out a delighted laugh when she wriggled away from the gentle touch. Her fingers followed determinedly, one hand hovering over each side while Eleanor cringed and furiously tried to bat them away.

Then she yelped suddenly, her leg jerking violently. “Chidi!”

He had put a hand on her knee and was squeezing firmly. “Sorry, I just wanted to test it out.”

Eleanor made an offended noise, trying to kick him off. “If you’re so sorry, then stohoHOHOP!”

“In a second, I’m not finished yet.” He slipped his hands under both knees and tickled at the sensitive undersides.

“Chidi, you trai- tra- traitohohohor!”

“Hardly,” Chidi snorted. “It’s not traitorous if you give up the information yourself.”

“That’s not- nohohoho!” She managed to reach forwards and grab onto his upper arms, trying to wrestle him off herself.

Tahani watched in amusement. There was no way Eleanor was ever going to overpower Chidi by way of brute strength. There was a chance she could win by playing him by his own game - though that didn’t seem likely to happen either. Eleanor continued to shriek and giggle, still weakly shoving at him in a show of stubborn determination.

“He’s right, you know.” Tahani said. She took advantage of Eleanor’s exposed sides and launched a tickle attack of her own. “You brought this on yourself.”

Eleanor _screeched_ and threw herself backwards, clamping her arms down by her sides, but it was no use. Tahani tickled up to her ribcage, feeling the way her intercostal muscles twitched with every squeal of laughter.

“I dihihidn’t!” She cried. She twisted valiantly, one hand outstretched to where Chidi had started fluttering his nails along her calves, the other reaching back to tug at Tahani’s wrist.

Tahani let her, but she didn’t let her pause the tickle attack. No, not yet. She reached around and wiggled her fingers against the soft, doughy part of Eleanor’s lower belly.

“You brought it up first,” she reminded her.

Eleanor shook her head. She was laughing too hard to argue back now, and had resorted to trying to prise Tahani’s hands away from her stomach.

“You did,” Chidi agreed. He reached down and tickled her foot experimentally. Eleanor yanked it away violently, then immediately tried to kick him in the solar plexus. She missed, but he took it for the warning it was. “Okay, yes you brought it up first, but _maybe_ it was us who instigated the whole thing.” He gave Tahani a meaningful look, and she - somewhat reluctantly - let go of Eleanor as well.

“Yeah, too forking right,” Eleanor scoffed. “You’re both mean and---.” She cut herself off with a sharp inhalation, eyes widening. Chidi and Tahani followed her gaze.

Three enormous yellow flowers had bloomed on the plant.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!  
> kudos and comments give me serotonin.  
> find me on tumblr @peachytickles


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